Railway-track structure.



No. 7|3,79. Patented Nbv. I8. |902. H. B. NICHOLS. RAILWAY TRACK STRUCTURE.

(Appl e mam: 25 19021 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

No. 7l3,790. Patented Nov. I8, |902.

H. B. HLS.

RAILWAY T STRUCTURE.

ldm 25 1902.)

(Application e r (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' i 1* 7 @.1 i a gpg Q J1! @a d 611/3 l turno tarts artnr muon RlLWAYm'l-RACK l STRUCTU RE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 713,790, dated November 18, 1902.

Application filed March 25,1902. Serial No. 99,844. (No model.)

Io track structure-such as frogs, switches, or

crossings-wherein the meeting points of the rails are formed by a removable plate or block, and in such connection it relates to an improvement upon that type of railway-track i structure described in Letters Patent No.

694,164, granted to me under date of February 25, 1902, the improvement residing in the means for locking the plate or block to the casting which unites the meeting ends ofthe 2o rails.

In my former patent, No. 694, 176, there is illustrated and described in conjunction With the casting uniting the meeting ends of the rails and a block or plate seated in said castz5 ing and forming a continuation for said meeting ends a means of detachably securing the block or plate in the casting which consists in forming upon an extension of the block a channel or groove and in forming upon the 3o adjacent part of the casting a complemental channel or groove and then using a bed or filler between the block and casting, so that the filler enters and fills the complemental grooves to form a key orlock, which is readily 3 5 accessible to a drill applied outside the track structure. In using this improvement of my former patent upon street-railway lines in which the traffic is practically continuous it` has been found that While this means for de- 4o taching the plate or block from the casting is immeasurably superior to the old Way of taking up the structure or melting out the block, l

yet during the busy hours it requires too much time to drill out the key and a prolonged stalling or stoppage of traffic results.

My present improvement is designed to obviate the disadvantage 0f the improvelnent described in my former patent in that it forms a means for attaching the plate in the casting, which can be quickly removed When required Without undue stoppage of traffic even in the busy hours of the dayo In my former patent the key locking the plate or block to the casting Was formed by the overiiow of the bed or filler into a large substantially cylindrical space, and this key could only be removed by cutting or drilling the same out of the grooves in which it was formed. By my present invention there is formed a key in which a central part or core is united to the surrounding parts or shell by a substantially fragile connection, Which permits of the core or central part of the key being driven out by a Wedge or mandrel, leaving only a thin shell to imite the plate to the casting. This thin shell readily fractures When a Wedgeis employed to lift the plate or block out of the casting.

The nature and scope oi' my invention will be more fully understood from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, in Which- Figure 1 is a top or plan vieur of a track structure embodying main features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional View on the line 2 2 ot' Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged cross-sectional views of two forms of the improved key. Fig. 6 is a top or plan vieW similar to Fig. 1, but illustrating a modilied form of arranging the keys. Eig. 7 is a sectional View on the line 7 7 of Fig. G, and Fig. 8 is a sectional view on the line S S of Fig. 7.

Referring to the drawings, a, a', d2, and a3 represent the ends of four rails crossing each other at a required angle. These ends do not abut, but approach each other to form a substantially rectangular pocket, wherein a hardened-steel plate or block l), forming the crossing-piece, is adapted to be inserted to form the continuation of the rail-sections. The means for firmly securing this plate or block h in place, so that it may be accessible for quick and easy removal, forms the main feature of my present invention. To accomplish this, the block or plate b has on its base an extension h', which in cross-section, Figs. 2 or S, is of inverted pyramidal form. The inclined sides of the extension h are hollovved out to form a groove or grooves h2, Which by preference is or are semicylindrical in crosssection. In the casting d, which unites the IOO meeting rails, a pocket is formed which is of a shape complemental to the shape of the eX- tension b of the block or plate b, as well as to the shape of the under face of said block or plate b. In the walls of the pocket adjacent to the groove or grooves b2 are formed or cut out a similar groove or grooves d2 The block or plate b, with its extension b', does not snugly t the pocket in the casting d; but, on the contrary, a space is formed which is filled by a bed or iiller e, of soft metal or other materialsuch as zinc, sulfur, 850.-- pouredy therein in a molten state. When cooled, the bed or filler e forms not only a lining or support between the plate or block, its extension, and the pocket, but also a means for securing the block and its extension in the pocket in the casting d. WhenA the plate and extension are assembled in the pocket and before the bed or iller e is poured between the same, a core or keyf of preferably elliptical shape is laid in the cylindrical space formed by the contiguous grooves b2 and d and the metal eis then poured in. In the complemental grooves b2 and d will then be formed a thin shell or casing f', surrounding and frangibly united to the periphery of the l key or core f, as clearly illustrated in the drawings.

Several ways of preparing the core or key f foruseinthestructuremaybedevised. Thus in the form illustrated in Fig. 4 a thin tube of steel]2 may be inserted in the cylindrical opening between the casting and the extension, and when the metal e is poured into the structure the center of this tube f2 will be filled by a core f of the same chemical nature as the shell or casingf, which surrounds the tube f2, or, if desired, as illustrated in Fig. 5, a core or key j' of the metal to be poured into the structure may first be formed and its periphery permitted to oXidiZe. There will then be formed upon the core or keyfa thin enveloping film f 10, of oxid, which separates the core f proper from the thin shell or casing f', surrounding said core, or, if further desired, the coref may be made of a metal sufficiently dissimilar in chemical nature from the metal e poured into the structure to permit of a frangible connection between the periphery of the corefand the surrounding casing or shell f. In any event the core or key f proper must be separated peripherally from the surrounding casing or shell f by a film or layer, which renders the key or core f readily separable from the enveloping shell f when force is applied axially to the key or core f. By so forming the interlocking key between the plate or block b and the casting d so that its central portion or core may be readily driven out no drilling is required and in a few moments the operator with a sledge and mandrel can quickly eject the core, and the plate will be held down only by the thin shell or casing f'. By now applying a wedge to the side of the structure illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3, or to the opening Z914 in the form illustrated in Figs. 6 to 8, the block or plate b, with its extension b', can be readily lifted out of the pocket in the casting d. In Figs. I to 3 the grooves b2 and d extend horizontally through the structure; but in Figs. 6 to 8 these grooves are extended diagonally and vertically therein. In the former case the removable core has its ends exposed at the sides of the casting, whereas in the latter construction the upper end of the removable core is accessible from above the plate or block b.

Having thus described the nature and objects of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a railway-track structure, a casting uniting the meeting rails, a block or plate seated in and removably secured to said casting, an extension formed on said block or plate and having a groove or channel arranged adjacent to the com plementally-grooved face of the casting, a bed or filler interposed between the block, extension and casting, and a key filling the grooves in the extension and casting, said key comprising a core united by a frangible connection to a surrounding shell formed by the bed or filler.

2. In a railway-track structure wherein a block or plate is supported in and secured to a casting uniting the meeting rails by a bed or filler, a key interlocking the block or plate with the casting, said key comprising a central core having its periphery enveloped in a film or sheet of material, the chemical composition whereof differs from the composition of the bed or filler, and a shell formed of the material of the bed or filler and enveloping the periphery of the key to form a frangible linien between the core and the shell.

3. In a railway-track structure of the character described, wherein a block or plate is supported in and secured to a casting by a bed or filler, a key interlocking the block or plate with the casting, said key comprising a tube of thin material, a core formed by the bed or filler within the tube and a shell formed by the bed or iller and enveloping the tube, said tube thereby forming a frangible union between the core and the shell.

4. In railway-track structures, a key or fastening for removable parts of the structure, composed of an inner or core portion, and an outer surrounding shell portion, said inner or core portion being separable from the sul'- rounding shell portion.

5. In railway-track structures, a key or fastening for removable parts of the structure, consisting of an outer portion or shell and an inner portion or core adapted to be driven out of said outer portion or shell.

6. In railway-track structures, a key or fastening for removable portions of the structures, consisting of a separable core portion and a frangible surrounding or shell portion.

7. In railway-track structures wherein a block or plate is seated in a casting which unites the meeting-rail members of the structure, means for removably securing said plate IOO IIO

or block in the casting, consisting of a compound plug or key engaging both the blocks or plate and the casting and interlocking the same, said key or plug having a separable removable core portion and a surrounding frangible shell portion.

8. In a railway-track structure, the combination with a casting having a pocket therein, and a Wear plate or block seated in said pocket, of means for removably securing the said plate or block in said pocket, consisting of one or more plugs or keys forming an interlocking connection between the plate or block and the casting, and formed each with a separable inner, or core, portion, and a frangible outer, or shell, portion, said pocket having an opening or openings to permit the HENRY B.' NICHOLS.

Vitnesses:

J. WALTER DoUGLAss, THOMAS M. SMITH. 

